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MidWives, Medicaid & FHP  

post #1 of 7
8/27/08 at 11:41am
Thread Starter 
I'm new to all this and I have a question does anyone knows midwives that take madicaid, family health plus or both together in New York City?? I'm plannig to get pregnant and will like to start family planning with a midwife instead of a doctor.
post #2 of 7
8/27/08 at 12:11pm
I posted a thread on this about 6 months back that you might be able to search. Are you looking for a homebirth midwife or just a midwife? Homebirth I think is tough, though I heard Joan Bryson in Bklyn takes medicaid. I also think a lot of midwives that are hospital-based are difficult about insurance - at least this has been my experience.

BUT both freestanding birth centers in NYC take Medicaid and FHP. One is in Brooklyn and the other in the Bronx - Morris Heights. I don't have experience with the Brooklyn one, but heard it's good. I almost went to the Morris Heights Birthing Pavilion (you can google it) when I was on medicaid (ended up getting on my partner's insurance and did homebirth). My best friend is also delivering there. Our experience with them is great. The midwives are really fantastic and they have beautiful birthing rooms and their care is very good. The director is a fantastic woman named Jennifer Dohrn. The downsides are that because it's an open clinic and they take walk-ins, the waits can be long and visits are only 20 minutes (still more than most docs) and the phones can be difficult to get through on. But I think, unfortunately, any place that accepts medicaid you will be dealing with some of those issues. My friend gets the first am appt and tries to be the first one there. That helps with waits. But she LOVES her midwife. She gives birth in October so I can tell you more about that then but I've heard great things about births there. Overall, it's a really great place with a lot of support. I'd check it out if you're in Manhattan or Bronx. Otherwise, I'd also check Bklyn out, which I"ve also heard great things about and I think is a smaller operation so maybe not some of the other issues.

Good luck!
post #3 of 7
8/27/08 at 1:44pm
Thread Starter 
Thx 4 the info. I do live in the Bx and definitely will check the place out.
post #4 of 7
8/27/08 at 1:44pm
I just did a home birth on HIP medicaid in Brooklyn. Depending on the midwife there are some co-pays for the actual birth but not prenatal care in my experience.

Call around because it really depends on who and what type of birth. Good luck!
post #5 of 7
8/28/08 at 1:13pm
Thread Starter 
I found a midwife her name is Linda Perry and she said in her email reply that if I'm elegible for medicaid I need the GHI health plan. I really like everything I read in her website but if you have any other sugestions please post. Thx for your replies.

If anyone is interested her websites are http://www.completewomanmidwifery.com

http://www.breastcancerscreen.com
post #6 of 7
8/29/08 at 8:34pm
there is also Allen Pavilian in Inwood (WAY northern manhattan). bellevue and st. luke's/roosevelt have midwives as well. as far as medicaid goes, there's limits on how much some midwives can bill through PCAP (sp?), i guess. otherwise, if you have HIP or GHI or whatever insurance, it should bill just like the regular insurance. so call your insurance provider.

fyi, if your provider does not have a midwife that covers homebirth, ny state law says they MUST cover a out-of-network if you want homebirth.

New York Insurance Law § 4303(c)(1) states:

“If an HMO does not have a midwife who assists in home births in its network, it must allow the prospective mother to access such a midwife, so long as that provider meets the minimum requirements of the plan, who is not in the HMO's network.”

there ARE exceptions to this law, but it's worth looking into.
post #7 of 7
9/4/08 at 2:50pm
I just had a homebirth on medicaid. THe woman you contacted wants you to go through GHI because it pays out the best for the service. If you go with another company (I had wellcare initially) they don't pay nearly as well and you would end up having to pay OOP for the rest of the money. I would look into making sure you have GHI now so that you don't get stuck. You only have certain times of year and 90 days there after to switch, or something like that.

Good luck, it was an awesome experience.
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